Businesses block-book for Olympics
The second-hardest seat to find during the Games might be in a restaurant
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 6:27 AM PT
Forbes.com
Restaurants and shops near BC Place stadium are still uncertain what effect the Olympics will have on their business, so some have block-booked with corporations and even foreign nations. (CBC)It may take an Olympic effort to get inside a restaurant or bar during the 2010 Games. Although the Games won't begin for another 99 days, some Vancouver restaurants are already booked up.
If you venture after Feb. 12 to Bridges Restaurant, a well-known eatery on Granville Island, you might feel like you are somewhere in the mountainous middle of Europe.
"Bridges has an association with the Swiss government to be the House of Switzerland in Vancouver during the Olympic period," said Bridges CEO Peter Horwood.
In fact, the Swiss have already arrived. Their flag flies from the roof and the restaurant's big planters feature the distinctive white Swiss cross.
Swiss television will broadcast from there and Swiss athletes will visit by boat from the Athletes Village a few kilometres east along False Creek.
The restaurant will also remain open to the public, but that's not the way all pre-booked establishments are handling their business.
Some restaurants exclusively booked
Just a few metres from BC Place stadium — where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held — the Players Chophouse has signed an exclusive agreement with Bell Canada.
Owner Rob Ward said the restaurant needed certainty.
"Part of our deal with Bell was knowing up to a year and a half in advance what our schedules were going to be," Ward said.
"It had to do with the 'bird in the hand,' and knowing who our partner was going to be for the Olympics."
Businesses like Ward's had to weigh the risk of alienating their steady customers, who will find they're not welcome for weeks on end.
Most Vancouver restaurants won't be block-booking, according to Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant Association.
"They are saying they want to be there for their local consumer," Tostenson told CBC News. "So, if they shut down for 20 days and leave their local, loyal consumer behind, they don't think that's good for business.
"There are going to be 450,000 people in downtown Vancouver, with 600 restaurants. And I think that the restaurant industry is saying, 'We've got to feed all those people and make an impression.'"
